POTUS Lays Partial Blame for Anger in Country on Fake News 'Enemies'

In the wake of the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting and the pipe bomb threat to Democrats and critics of the Administration, President Donald Trump blamed the "fake" news media, at least in part, for the "great anger" in the country.

The President used his megaphone of choice, Twitter, to issue the latest in a series of claims and divisive tweets, saying the news media was the "true enemy of the people."

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It also came the same day an agitated White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a press conference that it was "outrageous and irresponsible" for CNN and others to blame the President for the pipe bombs. She was responding to a question from CNN's Jim Acosta on whether the Administration had the guts to identify who the President included in the fake news he said were that "true" enemy. It also came the same day that a third pipe bomb was intercepted that was addressed to CNN in Atlanta.

CNN's Jim Acosta countered that the network had simply pointed out that the President's rhetoric had allowed for a climate in which such attacks could happen.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.